1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a coin operated vending machine which is mechanically actuated in accordance with the diameter of coins inserted thereinto. Such machines are often used for vending newspapers.
2. The Prior Art
The present invention includes improved pawls for use in a coin operated vending apparatus of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,330 issued May 20, 1975 to Chalabian, a copy of which will provide a better understanding of the background of the present invention. The disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,330 is incorporated herein by reference.
In that patent, there is disclosed a coin operated vending machine in which the coin sorting mechanism comprises a pair of chutes for transferring coins from the slots into which they are inserted by the consumer to a position in which the coins are resting upon a locking bar which is pivotally mounted on the door of the machine. Selected pawls may be adjustably mounted relative to the chutes so as to extend into the chutes to cooperate with the upper edges of coins therein. A coin seat is formed on the locking bar and, as the consumer attempts to open the machine, the coin or coins become wedged between the pawl and the coin seat, biasing the locking bar away from a latching lever. If the proper coins are not inserted, the locking bar will not be actuated away from the latching lever, causing the lever to open the chutes throughout the entire length thereof, so that the coins and all other matter inserted into the slots would be rejected and returned to the consumer by deposit thereof in a coin return receptical. A wide variety of pawls were disclosed for use in the coin selection mechanism, depending upon the particular amount of money required to operate the machine.
Typically, the door of the vending machine can be opened by depositing any one of several combinations of coins, and a separate pawl is required for each possible combination. FIGS. 10-17 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,330 illustrate some of the possible pawls. These pawls may be grouped into two classes for purposes of description. In a first class are those pawls which interact only with the coins in one of the chutes (the pawls of FIGS. 13, 14 and 16). In a second class are those pawls which interact with coins in both chutes (the pawls of FIGS. 11, 12, 15 and 17).
In the pawls of the second class, coins inserted into a first chute act against the side of a first finger of the pawl causing the pawl to pivot slightly so that a second finger of the pawl is brought into a position within the second coin chute, the latching lever being actuated by the coins in the second chute. Through experience it has been found that objects other than coins can be inserted into the first chute to provide the desired pivoting action of the pawl, thereby defeating the mechanism. The improved pawls of the present invention have a shape which overcomes this problem.
A careful study of the pawls shown in FIGS. 11-17 of U.S. Pat. No. 3,884,330 reveals that the pawls of the first class (FIGS. 13, 14 and 16) require a particular combination of coins in one of the two chutes, while the pawls of the second class (FIGS. 11, 12, 15, and 17) require both a first combination of coins in the first chute and a second particular combination of coins in the second chute. However, none of the pawls is capable of operating on either a first particular combination of coins in the first chute or a second particular combination of coins in the second chute. As a result, in the either/or situation, it has in the past been necessary to use two separate pawls. This, in turn, makes the mechanism more complicated and results in the pawls being crowded together to a greater extent, necessitating the use of offsets in certain of the pawls. The present invention includes a pawl which can be operated in association with either a first combination of coins in a first chute or a second combination of coins in the second chute.